ViGeneron announces follow-on collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo to develop a novel gene therapy for prevalent eye diseases
ViGeneron GmbH, a next-generation gene therapy start up, announced a follow-on collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited to utilize ViGeneron’s novel engineered recombinant adeno-associated virus vectors (vgAAVs) to address an undisclosed target for the treatment of prevalent eye diseases. Financial terms are not disclosed.
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ViGeneron has worked on this program together with Daiichi Sankyo since early 2021.This follow-on collaboration allows the companies to create and validate vgAAV-based therapeutic candidates for the undisclosed target through in-vivo animal studies.
Through a unique and stringent in vivo selection procedure, where an AAV2-based peptide-display library was intravenously administered in mouse models followed by isolation of vector DNA from target cells after only 24 hours, ViGeneron’s two novel vgAAV vectors termed vgAAV.GL and vgAAV.NN were identified and characterized. These novel vgAAV vectors mediate a widespread and high-level retinal transduction after intravitreal injection in a wide range of preclinical models and efficiently transduce photoreceptors in human retinal explant cultures.
“Based on our partnership and findings, to date, we look forward to a successful follow-on collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo and potentially to developing a new sustained therapy that will address a dire need for many patients suffering from prevalent eye diseases,” commented Dr. Caroline Man Xu, Co-founder and CEO of ViGeneron. “Furthermore, the advancement of our research agreement exemplifies the potential of our intravitreally injected vgAAV vectors for large and commercially significant disease areas.”
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Topic world Gene therapy
Genetic diseases once considered untreatable are now at the center of innovative therapeutic approaches. Research and development of gene therapies in biotech and pharma aim to directly correct or replace defective or missing genes to combat disease at the molecular level. This revolutionary approach promises not only to treat symptoms, but to eliminate the cause of the disease itself.
Topic world Gene therapy
Genetic diseases once considered untreatable are now at the center of innovative therapeutic approaches. Research and development of gene therapies in biotech and pharma aim to directly correct or replace defective or missing genes to combat disease at the molecular level. This revolutionary approach promises not only to treat symptoms, but to eliminate the cause of the disease itself.
